New Jersey officials have located two of the four detainees who escaped from an immigrant detention facility last week, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Monday, June 16.
DHS said four “dangerous criminal illegal aliens” broke out of Delaney Hall in Newark on June 12, including Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez from Honduras and Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada from Colombia. A search for all four ensued, with officials announcing a $10,000 reward for information leading to their arrest.
DHS has confirmed that both Sandoval-Lopez and Castaneda-Lozada were located separately on June 13.
Sandoval-Lopez was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FBI officials and local police in Passaic, New Jersey, according to DHS. Officials said he resisted arrest by kicking and threatening to kill authorities.
A view of Delaney Hall in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey on May 10, 2025.
Meanwhile, Castaneda-Lozada attempted to turn himself in at the New Jersey State Police Bridgeton Station, where officials refused to take him into custody because their sanctuary policies prohibited them from working with ICE. DHS said he later surrendered himself to FBI and ICE agents in Milleville, New Jersey.
Sandoval-Lopez’s criminal record includes unlawful possession of a handgun and aggravated assault, while Castaneda-Lozada’s includes burglary, theft and conspiracy to commit burglary, according to DHS.
Officials search for remaining 2 escapees
DHS continues to search for the remaining two escapees: Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes from Honduras and Andres Pineda-Mogollon from Colombia.
Bautista-Reyes entered the U.S. illegally in 2021 and was arrested on May 3, 2025 in Wayne Township, New Jersey on aggravated assault, terroristic threats, attempt to cause bodily injury and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, DHS said.
Pineda-Mogollon entered the U.S. in 2023 after on a tourist visa that DHS says he overstayed. Police in New York City arrested him on April 25 for petit larceny and New Jersey police arrested him on May 21 for residential burglary, conspiracy residential burglary and possession of burglary tools, the department said.
DHS continues to offer $10,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the two men.
Many complaints made about conditions at facility
Before the escape June 12, Delaney Hall had been subject to many complaints regarding alleged unsuitable facility conditions including insufficient food since it opened in May, multiple immigration rights groups have said.
Agents reportedly deployed tear gas and pepper spray after a riot occurred within the facility the day of the breakout.
Information gathered from people inside Delaney Hall indicates that 50 inmates in the federal detention facility joined efforts to push down the wall of a unit after meals were delivered late. On the same night, there were unconfirmed reports that several people had escaped from the facility.
Information gathered from people inside facility indicates that 50 inmates worked to knock down a unit wall after meals were delivered late, according to the Bergen Record, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The 1,196-bed facility is the first immigrant detention facility to open during President Donald Trump’s second term, the Bergen Record reported.
Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr., Christopher Cann and Michael Loria, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2 escapees from New Jersey immigrant detention facility caught
